HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A single-engine Cessna 172 plane crashed in a yard of a home in Hanover County during the afternoon on Saturday.
At around 1:40 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, State Police deputies responded to a minor plane crash in Hanover County.
Police said a privately-owned plane was returning to the Hanover County Municipal Airport. When the pilot realized the aircraft was not going to reach the airstrip, police said he landed the aircraft in a nearby open field.
During the descent, the plane’s wings struck several pine trees.
There was an instructor pilot, a student pilot and two additional passengers onboard. No one was injured, according to State Police.
One family who saw the crash described what they saw.
“We were driving up the road, we were going slow, and then I saw a plane and I told her [Herring’s mother, Jessica] to stop and it was wobbling. I said, ‘it’s not going to make it,’ and then it hit a pine tree and rolled once and started sliding and landed right here in the neighbor’s yard,” said Kyra Herring, who witnessed the crash.
The family was in awe, adding that it was a miracle that no one onboard walked away with any injuries.
“How did these guys survive without any bumps or bruises?” questioned Jessica Herring.
“There was a higher power looking out for them… how they came to rest, there was a little bit of help involved in it,” said another family member, Eric Herring.
In addition, two neighbors who live right next to where the crash happened said they’re thankful for the response of emergency crews, who put down sand where the incident happened in an attempt to make sure no gas seeps into the well under the house.
An employee at HOVA Flight Services confirmed that the plane belongs to the flight school at Hanover County Airport, although the owner of the plane is listed as a company called ‘First Eclipse LTD,’ out of Richmond, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were both notified and are investigating.
